


Steamed Clams

by hanaskatana



Series: sea food [2]
Category: The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Love Confessions, M/M, Selectively Mute Link, awkward confessions, the long awaited sequel to fish sticks
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-25
Updated: 2018-03-25
Packaged: 2019-04-07 18:10:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,546
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14086650
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hanaskatana/pseuds/hanaskatana
Summary: Link has enough decency to feel ashamed for his less than appropriate behavior towards Sidon after having a few too many drinks. But it's actually apologizing to Sidon that's the hard part.Sequel toFish Sticks. It's highly recommended that you read that before this one.





	Steamed Clams

Link had enough decency to feel ashamed of himself after a day of rest. Zelda informed him that he was extremely interested in seeing Sidon’s “fish stick” after his drinking with Revali. He told Zelda to never let him drink with Revali again, even if she has to physically drag him away. He really didn’t want to keep getting into these situations.

Now, Link stood outside of Mipha and Sidon’s house, nervously shifting from foot to foot and wringing his hands together. He knew he needed to apologize for his drunken stupidity, but the thought of actually knocking on the door and actually saying it made him shake with anxiety. Sidon had refused him, had even thrown him on the ground from what he heard from Zelda. Sidon was probably disgusted with Link, probably wanted nothing to do with him. Link wouldn’t be surprised if he wasn’t even let into the house. In fact, it would probably be better if he just went back home now and never left his room ever again.

Link started turning to go back home when the door opened, as if the Goddess Herself wished for this encounter to happen. Coming out of the door was Mipha. Her hair was braided into one long, thick braid that rested over her shoulder. She was looking at her phone when she opened the door, but she looked up at Link, who was turned halfway towards the road. They stood there for what felt like an eternity to Link.

“Link--”

Before Mipha could finish whatever she was going to say, Link started signing quickly and sloppily. It was something along the lines of “Just came to say ‘hi’ now I’ve got to go right now, immediately,” but Link couldn’t remember exactly what signs his hands were making. When he tried to run away, Mipha grabbed his arm to stop him. He tried to bring his other arm up to his chest to sign an apology, but she grabbed that hand too. With no means of escape, Link resigned himself to the scolding he was sure Mipha was going to give him.

“Link, just go talk to him,” Mipha said gently, slowly letting go of his hands. “He’s not upset with you. _I’m_ not upset with you. Nothing bad will happen to you.”

And, _oh_ , how Link wanted to tell her that she was wrong. He wanted to scream how much he deserved their anger and distaste. He was shameless and disgusting, and he deserved no kindness from them. He wanted to tell her that the second Sidon saw him, he would rip into Link for his crassness at the party. Link wanted desperately to think of any excuse not to enter the house, to confront what had happened that one drunken night.

But, no matter how much he _wanted_ to say all those things, he _knew_ none of them were true. He knew Sidon and Mipha would never call him shameless or disgusting; he knew that they were far too kind to send him packing for something as silly as a drunken mistake. He knew that, if he were to apologize, he’d be forgiven in a heartbeat because that’s just how Mipha and Sidon work. 

So Link sighed and hung his head in reservation. He knew he couldn’t run away anymore. Mipha gave him a soft smile, moving out of the doorway and gesturing for him to enter. He did so cautiously, fuzzy memories from the party resurfacing. It wasn’t pleasant to be reminded of how stupid he had been. He _really_ needed to stop letting Revali get him into trouble like this.

“Sidon is probably up in his room studying,” Mipha said, startling Link out of his own thoughts. He nodded his head and thanked her before turning to face the stairs.

As he climbed the stairs, Link ran through all the possible ways the conversation could go. The most terrifying outcome being Sidon kicking him out with a cold shoulder, even though Link knew that wasn’t likely to happen. He still wouldn’t blame Sidon for not wanting anything to do with him anymore, though. Link twisted his hands together, picking at the spot where his thumb nail met the flesh. He thought about how he would sign his apology, too nervous to even dream about speaking a single word. It only occurred to him after he had knocked once on Sidon’s door, the only closed door on the upstairs floor, that signing might be futile. Sidon might not even know how to understand sign language. Link would truly be in a pickle if that were to happen.

“Mipha, I thought you already left,” came Sidon’s voice from the other side of the door, before he opened it. Link watched his eyes widen when he realized that it wasn’t Mipha knocking at his door.

Sidon really was just as beautiful as his sister. He stood tall, much taller than Link. His long, crimson hair was tied in a messy knot on the top of his head, some strands escaping the tie. When Link tried to look into his eyes, he was drawn to the scar on his left cheek, just to the left of his eye. He wondered briefly how Sidon got it, before coming to the conclusion that he was more beautiful with it. Sidon’s mouth hung open slightly, like he was shocked to have Link standing in front of him. He probably was.

 _I almost kissed that mouth_ , was the first thought Link had.

 _I hope I still can_ , was the next, more surprising one.

“Link!” Sidon said, finally breaking the awkward silence. “How unexpected! What can I do for you?”

Link, startled out of his admiration for Sidon’s beauty, started signing quickly. It wasn’t at all what he was meaning to sign, and executed much less eloquently than what he would have liked. It didn’t seem to matter though, if the confused look on Sidon’s face was any indication.

“I must apologize, my friend, but I only know very basic sign language,” he informed Link regretfully. “Mipha has only taught me a little bit. If it isn’t too much trouble, do you mind simplifying what you’re trying to say?”

That was something Link could do. In fact, it would probably help him to stay calm if he stuck to simple signs. So Link brought his right hand to his chest in a fist and made a few circles. He even went as far as to mouth the word “sorry” just to be sure Sidon knew he was apologizing.

“You needed apologize, my friend,” Sidon said swiftly. “It’s my own fault for not being well versed in sign.” When Link shook his head, the confused look returned to Sidon’s face. “Is that not what you were apologizing for?” At Link’s confirmation, Sidon asked, “What else could you be apologizing for?”

Link’s face immediately lit up like a fire. He turned his head away so fast that his neck cracked. His right hand started circling his chest again in a constant apology, while his left came to cover his flaming face. When he heard Sidon breathe out a shocked “oh,” he wanted to be eaten by the ground below him. He _knew_ this was a horrible idea. He braced for Sidon’s anger and distaste.

There was never any need for the fear, though.

“My friend, do not apologize for that,” Sidon said, his voice soft. “If I were a weaker man, I would have taken you up on the offer right then. But the thought of you waking unhappy the next morning after a drunken mistake was enough to keep me at bay. If I were to take you as a lover, I would want you coherent and consenting.”

At the word “lover,” Link really did feel his knees grow weak. He wished he were close enough to brace himself against the wall, but he also didn’t want to worry Sidon. He seemed like the kind of man to pick up on everyone’s ailments, whether they wanted him to or not. Link was, unfortunately, correct.

“Link? Are you feeling well?” Sidon asked, leaning forward to try to get a better look at Link. Some of his hair fell across his shoulder. Link wanted desperately to touch it, to feel if it was as soft as it looked.

As a shock to both of them, Link found himself very quietly saying, “Me too.” Link, who had not planned to even utter an apology, was so shocked that he had ended up confessing with his voice instead of his hands.

“You too?” Sidon murmured back like an idiot. Could he not tell what Link was trying to say? Link huffed and spelled out with his hands, not having the courage to speak anymore.

‘L-O-V-E-R-S’ he spelled out, letter by letter, growing redder with each one. He hoped Sidon at least knew the alphabet, otherwise they’d never get out of this conversation. He was in luck, it seemed, because Sidon’s beautiful, golden eyes widened.

“You would like to be lovers?” he asked almost reverently. Link could only nod and bask in the light of Sidon’s blinding smile. “I would love that! But perhaps we should start slow? With a date, maybe?”

Link couldn’t agree faster.

**Author's Note:**

> so i FINALLY got around to finishing the sequel to [Fish Sticks](https://archiveofourown.org/works/12298956) and uh.... it's been a while.... i might consider writing more in this au, but also i'm a lazy fuck soooooooooo
> 
> this is called steamed clams bc link is clamming up... and he might as well be steaming with embarrassment
> 
> find me on twitter and tumblr @hanaskatana


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